Ryan Preece Earns Cup Series Pole at Richmond Raceway

Column By: Cole Peterson / RFK RACING – RICHMOND, V.A –

Ryan Preece will lead the field to green at Richmond Raceway after earning the pole in Friday night’s qualifying. Driving the No. 60 Kroger/Kleenex Ford for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing, Preece posted the fastest time of the session, securing his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole—and his first since Martinsville in 2023, where he led a career-best 135 laps.

“When I drove it off into turn one, I know I got it all because the amount of time I drove it in there versus the grip she potentially had was definitely on the limit,” Preece said. “It felt really good and Derrick (Finley) made great adjustments, along with the entire No. 60 RFK team and I’m just proud to have Kroger and Kleenex on the car this weekend.”

The pole is the third ever for the No. 60 car, and its first since July 2006 when Boris Said topped qualifying at Daytona. It’s also RFK Racing’s first pole since September 2022 (Keselowski at Texas), and their 92nd in Cup Series history. At Richmond specifically, it marks the team’s eighth pole overall and the first since Carl Edwards did so in 2010.

“Having the opportunity to start from the pole is going to make our job quite a bit easier as far as keeping control of the race,” Preece said. “I trust Derrick, Brent and Matt to make the right decision and give us the best opportunity to be on the best strategy, have the best track position, have the best pit stops and execute a great race.”

Preece’s strong qualifying run was backed up by solid efforts from his teammates: Brad Keselowski will roll off sixth, and Chris Buescher will start 12th in Saturday night’s 400-lap event.

Preece enters Saturday’s race with two top-five finishes across his last three starts and will start first in the 300-mile, 400-lap race. Race coverage is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on USA and can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.